Circumstances dictated yesterday that it was an early afternoon run or nothing. Really? In this heat? Hmmm. But OH was off to watch Hampshire play cricket and the next few days didn’t offer much in the way of Running Opportunity either, so needs must be creative.
Under the Forest trees, I thought. So off in the car to a regular walking area. Major crowds! I wasn’t the only Shade Seeker on the planet!
But I was there, and there was a tiny parking place....
First thing I learned was that the steep downhill on a gravel track was too scary for me - 😱 - so it became my first Jeffing experience. Then the lovely little path pictured above showed up, and I was lured away from gravel & crowds, even though I had no idea where it went. I imagined Oldfloss leading me onwards in a Ramble, and it was lovely. 👍😄🏃🏼♀️ (🐢)
Eventually I found another, this time empty, gravel path and guessed “left” and trotted on. Ooops, steep uphill coming. More Jeffing I guess. And then another luring little path.... And the headroom gradually got less & less, until I wished I had JaoJao’s short legs instead of my long ones. Walk a bit and push on through...
And -pop - out onto a good surface and, hey presto, a known place. 😄👍
Back along the track and subside into the car with all the windows open to catch the breeze. Now, WHY did it not occur to me to bring water??? 🤔 Duh! Another lesson learned.
But I loved my Ramble. Not all that long in distance or time, but a good red face to prove I’d been making an effort, and oddly, quite a good pace for a turtle. Maybe this Jeffing thing is worth trying again.
And hats off and cheers to all of you doing Events on this hot Bank Holiday weekend! Don’t know how you do it, but well done indeed. Happy Running everyone.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
